Australians are a text crazy nation. According to a survey commissioned by Australian telco, Telstra, one in three said they choose SMS to communicate major life events - compared to using the phone, email or social networking sites. The report also found we are more likely to SMS news of a birth, (25%), or a promotion, (18%) compared to other major life events.
Four in 10 Aussies indicated that they send between 3 and 7 text messages every day to family, friends and their partner respectively. And it seems like there are few places that are sacred from texting - Aussies text, or admit they would text, in many different places, including when they are by themselves to 'look busy' (44%), at the movies (34%), in a business meeting (21%) or even at a funeral/christening/wedding (15%).
According to Mark McCrindle, a social researcher and futurist, this report is an interesting reflection of Australia's wider lifestyle trends.
"Telstra's State of The Nation report reveals the uptake and influence of mobile technology on Australians, particularly texting. The fact that one in three prefer texting to other communication forms signals the natural fit of this technology to our increasingly time poor, busy lifestyles," McCrindle said.
However, this trend for prolific texting seems to be causing Australians trouble in the romance department. One in four Australians said they discovered their partner was cheating by reading a text message - and a further 20 per cent had accidentally sent a text meant for their partner or lover to somebody else.
In other texting trends, Australians said picture messages were popular, and use picture messaging on their mobiles most while travelling (44%), buying houses (33%) or at the birth of their children (33%).
Telstra Consumer Executive Director, Glenice Maclellan agreed.
"Texting has become an indispensable part of our everyday lives. As a valued form of communication Telstra has undertaken the State of the Nation research to track Australians texting nature - the how, when, where, what and why. This has revealed some interesting results and social insights about Australia as a text crazy and savvy nation," Ms Maclellan said.
About the Research
This research was conducted online by Pure Profile on behalf of Telstra in May, 2009 on a representative sample of 1,201 Australians from across Australia in both metropolitan and regional areas. Australians were surveyed in relation to their mobile phone habits and use of SMS/text messaging.
Posted to the site on 22nd June 2009
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/38110.php